Over the weekend, the biggest fireworks weren’t those going off at Target Field, but instead were the proverbial ones taking place in New Britain, CT. Virgil Vasquez, a veteran minor leaguer in the Minnesota Twins farm system, found himself making a spot start in a double-header for the New Britain Rock Cats. In the days second game, he tossed his first no-hitter of his career.
The Rock Cats, home of current top prospect Byron Buxton, were facing off with Bryce Harper‘s former stopping point, the Harrisburg Senators.
More from Minnesota Twins Prospects
- Minnesota Twins: Who’s in and who’s out after the 2022 Rule 5 Draft
- Minnesota Twins: Four Prospects added to the 40-Man Roster at Deadline
- Minnesota Twins: Is Edouard Julien legit and can he help in 2023?
- Minnesota Twins: Front Office finally making the Right Call with Call-Ups
- Minnesota Twins: Matt Wallner called up, Former Top 30 Prospect DFA’d
Vasquez had been pitching for Triple-A Rochester, but the Rock Cats needed a second arm for the second game of the double-header. In the nightcap, he blanked the Senators over seven innings (the game was shortened) to secure his first career no-hitter.
On the day Vasquez struck out only two, but walked none. Vasquez made it through seven innings extremely efficiently throwing only 69 pitches, and getting 44 across for strikes. Outside of a Jorge Polanco error, the same Polanco that made his debut with the Twins earlier this year, Vasquez had a perfect game.
New Britain had plenty of offensive support for Vasquez, plating nine runs. Eddie Rosario drove in two runs for the Rock Cats, while Polanco had three RBIs, and DH Reynaldo Rodriguez homered and drove in two of his own.
While Vasquez doesn’t figure to be in the long terms plans of the Twins, it was an exceptional performance, and likely will go down as one of the highlights of his career.